He's Leaving Home... Orlando Sentinel - Dec 12 - 18 2003

After a decade on the Orlando scene, Blue Meridian frontman Donovan Lyman is moving to Los Angeles.
    "A lot of people would say that as an Orlando musician, I've done really well" Lyman said this week. "That wasn't my goal. The object is to get the music in front of as many people as possible."
     Blue Meridian will headline a farewell show with opening acts Cider and Some Other Life on Dec. 20 at House of Blues at Downtown Disney. A week later, Lyman will be gone, marking the end of a band that has been a popular local presence.
     "When we started this, we never had any fantasies about being famous. We just wanted to have fun, get drunk and make music."
     As Lyman matured musically, that's no longer enough. At the same time he's discouraged by a local scene that he thinks is too driven by the prospect of the Big Break.
    "The Orlando Sound these days is anything that will get someone a contract, " he says. "When we started there were no aspirations of getting signed. Now it's the complete opposite."
     The demise of Blue Meridian marks Orlando's ongoing transition from the days when Matchbox Twenty's national success spawned big dreams for other bands.
     Vonray, which once shared the stage with Blue Meridian, recently saw its major-label debut fall flat. Big expectations for nu-metal band Downstem have yet to materialize.
     Despite a a loyal following, Blue Meridian has been maligned by some corners of the local scene. It's recent independently distributed album, Minerva, never gained traction, though Lyman considers it among the bands best.
     With help from Engineer/Co-Producer Justin Thomas and Brett Hesla and a host of others, he's now putting the finishing touches on a follow up that pushes his music into a new direction. He's hoping it will open doors in LA.
     "I need the challenge of playing in new cities for new people," he says. "It's really cool to start a song like "Sideways Silverjet" in Orlando and get that big reaction, but it's not like bouncing it off a totally new audience."
     In addition to music, Lyman also will be shopping a screenplay and pushing to license his songs for TV and film productions.
     "I have always set realistic goals for myself. The first goal was to write good songs, put together a good band and impress people when we play." The next one is to do the same thing somewhere else.

JimAbbott@orlandosentinel.com